Kentucky fends off Gators to wrap up perfect season at home

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darius Miller and Eric Bledsoe each scored 14 points, as third-ranked Kentucky held off Florida, 74-66, to complete a perfect season at Rupp Arena.

Patrick Patterson added 13 points and John Wall ended with 11 points and eight assists for the Wildcats (29-2, 14-2 SEC), who went 18-0 at home this season.

Kentucky, which had already won the regular season SEC title outright and will likely be a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, heads into the conference tourney on a two-game win streak.

Alex Tyus had 12 points to pace the Gators (20-11, 9-7), who have lost three in a row heading into the SEC Tournament, and might have to make a deep run to earn an at-large berth to the national tourney. Florida also got 11 points from both Kenny Boynton and Erik Murphy.

Kentucky held a 49-37 lead a little more than three minutes into the second half, but the Gators got back in the contest with a 9-1 run. Chandler Parsons ended the stretch with a layup, trimming Florida's deficit to 50-46.

The Gators were within a possession multiple times down the stretch, and with 5:23 to go, Murphy's dunk had them within 62-60. But Florida went through a back-breaking dry spell, going more than three minutes without scoring.

In that span, Kentucky stretched its lead to 68-60, until a Vernon Macklin layup got the Gators going again with 1:43 left. Florida had a chance to slash into Kentucky's lead further after Boynton got a steal on the Wildcats' next possession, but on the ensuing fastbreak he was called for an offensive foul. Bledsoe then made two foul shots, and Kentucky sealed the win at the line.

The Wildcats held a small lead throughout the beginning of the first half, then used a 14-0 run to take control. Bledsoe's layup capped the rally with 5:20 left for a 34-16 lead, though Florida scored the final six points of the period to get within 41-31 at the break.

Game Notes

The Wildcats open their SEC Tournament on Friday against the winner of the South Carolina-Alabama contest the day before...Florida plays Auburn on Thursday...Darnell Dodson added 10 points for Kentucky, which shot 46.9 percent, including 8-of-18 from three-point range...Florida made just 12-of-21 free throws and 4-of-15 three-point tries.

Gambliung NCAA Basketball Betting News


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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP

With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at MySportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.

There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.

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